Web condensing apparatus for a carding machine



Aug. 4, 1959 2,897,549 WEB CONDENSING APPARATUS FOR A CARDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 6, 1956 P. s. EATERSON 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. ieZr J7 FJZEWM Aug. 4, 1959 P. s. PATERSON 2,897,549

WEB CONDENSING APPARATUS FOR A CARDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 6, 1956 INVENTOR. 7%)" JTfaZZWwa 4w; M

United States Patent O WEB CONDENSING APPARATUS non A CARDING MACHINE Peter S. Paterson, Saco, Maine, assignor to Saco-Lowell Shops, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Maine Application January 6, 1956, Serial N0. 557,690 Claims. cl.19-150) This invention relates generally to carding machines, and. more. particularly, it relates to mechanisms for removing a web of textile or synthetic fibers from the doifer cylinder of a carding machine and forming the web into a sliver.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, it is the function of a carding machine, such as a cotton card for example, to open cotton more completely, to separate foreign matter and also very short fibers from the bulk of the cotton, and ultimately to form the cotton fibers into a continuous end or sliver. In a conventional carding machine this latter function is served by a dofler cylinder which removes the cotton from the main cylinder as a uniform fleece, and a comb to remove the fleece from the dofler cylinder. Thereafter, the sliver is formed by advancing the fleece or web through a condenser or dofler trumpet by means of a pair of calendering roll's disposed in front of the trumpet. Although this arrangement has been used successfully for many years, one of the most frequent sources of trouble is the doifer comb, owing to the fact that it must be rather precisely positioned with respect to the dolfer cylinder and vibrated rather rapidly through a small are adjacent the periphery thereof.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for removing textile fibers from the doifer cylinder which is inherently simpler and more trouble free than a dofler comb.

It is a further object to provide a new and improved mechanism for forming a web of textile fibers into a sliver with the end in view of greatly simplifying the task of initially threading the web through the mechanism.

In essence, the mechanism for removing fibers from the doft'er cylinder according to the present invention comprises a pair of dofling rolls extending transversely of the peripheral surface of the doifer cylinder and adapted to strip the fibers from the surface of the latter and draw them outwardly between the nip of the rolls. Provided in the surface of each of the doffing rolls are a pair of oppositely curled helical grooves of substantially equal pitch, and disposed with their edges adjacent the respective peripheral surfaces of the rolls are a pair of scrapers. By means of this arrangement, foreign matter, which would otherwise build up on the surfaces of the rolls and prevent their functioning effectively to remove the web from the doifer cylinder, is scraped off the surfaces of the rolls and collected on the edge of the scraper. The edges of the grooves, as they advance past the scraper then serve to carry the fibers from the edge of the scrapers back into the web thereby preventing large bunches of fibers from building up and eventually falling into the web.

With reference now to the drawings, other features of the invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will become more readily apparent. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the doifing roll mechanism of the present invention shown in conjunction with the doflrer cylinder and sliver forming mechanism of a conventional cotton carding machine;

Fig. 2 is a front View in elevation of a portion of the mechanism of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the directions of rotation of the dofling rolls relative to the doifer cylinder, and the manner in which the web is removed from the latter;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an improved sliver forming mechanism particularly well suited for use with the dofling rolls of Figs. l-3 also in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a side view of a portion of the mechanism 6 of Fig. 4, and

Fig. 7 is a side view of said portion modified from that of Fig. 6.

Referring first to Figs. 1 through 3 where only so much of a conventional cotton carding machine has been illustrated as is necessary for a clear understanding of the present invention, namely a portion of a main cylinder 11, a doifer cylinder 12, and a conventional sliver forming mechanism designated generally by the numeral 13, it will be observed that the mechanism for removing a web of fibers from the doffer cylinder according to the present invention comprises in essence a pair of dofling rolls 14 and 15, and a pair of scrapers 16 and 17 disposed with their edges adjacent the respective peripheral surfaces of the dofling rolls. Dofling rolls 14 and 15 are oriented essentially cotangent to one another and extend transversely of the peripheral surface of the doifer cylinder 12, the same being sufficiently close to the dofler cylinder to engage the fleece of cotton fibers carried thereby. Provided in the surfaces of each of the rolls 14 and 15 are a pair of oppositely curled helical grooves of equal pitch, numbered 18 and 19 on roll 14, and 20 and 21 on roll 15. It has also been found advantageous to provide at each end of the rolls, helical grooves running in one direction only on each roll end. These grooves are numbered 22 and 23 in the case of roll 14 and 22 and 23' in the case of roll 15. It is the function of these latter grooves to direct the web inwardly away from ends of the rolls so as to prevent cotton fibers from lapping over the ends and fouling the machine, particularly the drive mechanisms for the rolls themselves.

Rolls 14 and 15 are driven so that their adjacent surfaces move in the same direction and the last roll encountered .by the fleece of cotton fibers on the doffer cylinder, namely the roll 15, is driven so that its surface moves counter to the dofler surface. To effect these driving relations, there is keyed to the dofler shaft a gear 24, and there is rigid with roll 14 a shaft 25 mounting a drive gear 26. Intercoupling gears 24 and 26 are idler gears 27 and 28 whereby roll 14 is driven in the direction aforementioned at a speed relative to the doifer cylinder which gives the most satisfactory operation. To drive roll 15, a pair of gears 29'and'30 are provided, gear 29 being keyed to shaft 25, and gear 30 being keyed to shaft 31 rigid with roll 15. Roll 15 is also driven by a pair of gears 32 and 33 keyed to shafts 25 and 31, respectively adjacent the ends of the rolls opposite from gears 29 and 30, but optionally it may be frictional-1y driven from roll 14.

The operation of the dofling roll mechanism described in the foregoing may be best understood with reference particularly to Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 3, the fleece of cotton fibers on the dofler cylinder is rotated by the latter in a clockwise direction. Rolls 14 and 15 form a nip adjacent the surface of the doifer cylinder. As the fleece on the dofler passes roll 14, the latter has no apparent effect upon it since the teeth of the doffer clothing are pointed counter to the direction of doifer travel and the action of roll 14 tends to, impale the web rather than remove it. The fleece then continues to travel on the surface of the doffer until it reaches a point opposite the roll 15. This roll' tends toremove fibers from the teeth of the doffer clothing and carry them on its surface to the nip formed .by rolls 14 and 15. The nip then serves'to pull the fleece from the cylinder much in the manner of a pair of delivery rolls. The web. of cotton fibers passing from the dofling rolls is then drawn through the trumpet of the sliver forming mechanism 13 by means of a pair of calendering rolls.

Although in Fig. 1 there is shown in conjunction with the dofling roll mechanism of the present invention a sliver forming mechanism of more or less conventional design, the present invention also contemplates replacing the latter by an improved sliver forming mechanism. The advantages of the novel sliver forming mechanism, in accordance with this invention, willbecome clear as the description thereof proceeds with reference to Figs. 4 and 5 hereinafter. Thus, there is fixed to a frame member of the carding machine, such as member 34 of Fig. l, for example, a support member 35 whose general configuration resembles that of an L upside down and which in cross section is channel-shaped. Support member 35 is adapted to mount a calendering roll 36 which in cooperation with a calendering roll 37 serves to draw the web through a sliver forming member 41. To this end, calendering roll 36 is provided with a shaft 36 extending axially thereof, and the ends of the shaft are journaled in vertical slots 38 and 38' provided in the laterally spaced sides of the support member 35. In this way, provision is made for vertical movement of roll 36 with respect to roll 37, the latter being mounted beneath the former on a driven shaft 39. Shaft 39 may be driven in any convenient manner, such as for example by the gear train of Fig. 1 which drives the conventional sliver forming mechanism shown therein. It has also been found desirable to provide a cover 40 over a portion of drive shaft 39 adjacent roll 37, the surface of the cover being essentially coextensive with the upper surface of the roll 37 for reasons which will become apparent.

Sliver forming member 41, which is joined to frame member 34 by a suitable mounting arm 42, a portion of which is shown in Fig. 4, is disposed in back of rolls 36, 37 and defines a horn-shaped passageway 43 having its axis coextensive with the line of tangency between the rolls at their centers. Communicating between the passageway 43 and the upper edge of the member 41 is a cut-away portion 44 which is normally masked by a gate member 45. Gate member 45 is pivotally joined to sliver forming member 41 by means of a pin 46 and has attached to the end thereof remote from. pin 46 a stop pin 47 to engage the upper edge of member 41 thereby limiting the clockwise arcuate travel of the gate to the extent shown. Alternatively, gate member 45 may be raised, that is pivoted counterclockwise until it is completely disassociated from cut-away portion 44 and passageway The reason for this arrangement is to greatly simplify the work involved in manually threading the web through the sliver forming mechanism before the machine is started. By virtue of the fact that the upper calendering roll 36 is supported in cantilever, the web can he slid over the cover member 40 and in between the calendering rolls, and to facilitate this, the outer ends of the calender rolls are preferably tapered (Fig. 6) or rounded (Fig. 7). Also, by raising the gate 45 the passageway or trumpet will be accessible from above to permit the cotton fibers to be started therethrough much more easily than in the usual case where it is necessary to thread them through the throat of the trumpet. When the gate is closed, however, an eifective barrier is present to insure that the fibers remain in the passageway which the member 41 defines.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the carding of cotton, it is apparent that by suitable modification of the embodiments described in the foregoing the same may be readily adapted for use in other types of carding machines. Various suchmodifications that are within the spirit and scope of the invention will no doubt occur to those skilled in the art, and therefore, it should be understood that these embodiments are illustrative only of the invention'as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a carding machine apparatus for forming a web of fibers into a sliver, said apparatus comprising: a pair of calendering rolls, drive means to rotate one roll of said calendering rolls to advance the web; cantilever support means mounting the other calendering roll for rotation with the said one roll; a sliver forming member disposed in front of said calendering rolls, said member defining a horn-shaped passageway to form the web into a sliver, and having a cut-away portion communicating between one edge thereof and said passageway.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 including masking means optionally to mask said cut-away portion to maintain the sliver within the confines of said passageway.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2. wherein said masking means includes a gate member pivotally joined to said sliver forming member, said gate member being pivotal between a first position disassociated from said passageway and said cut-away portion, and a second position in front of said cut-away portion.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said calendering rolls are tapered at their outer ends,

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said calendering rolls are rounded at their outer ends.

References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 236,450 Moulton Jan. 11, 1881 236,777 Chase Jan. 18, 1881 299,280 Shinn May 27, 1884 363,199 Bonsack May 17, 1887 559,285 Hilton Apr. 28, 1896 1,554,530 Sheehan Sept. 22, 1925 2,363,470 Lannan et a1 Nov. 21, 1944 

